Ozai's Visitor:
by Fulcon
Summary: Ozai is visited in his cell, and is given some advice on things. Things like life, the nature of royalty, how to break out of prison and how to win the war that never really ended.ONESHOT


_I don't own Avatar. I do own the guy who comes to see him though._

He lay there, on his cot. The cot in the cast-iron cell, half of which was barred off. It was the first gate. The room had another door. This was to prevent anyone who was smart and lucky enough to pick his way out of the bars from escaping completely.

He hadn't even tried at any case. There wasn't a point in his mind. He had no bending. He couldn't even manipulate a candle flame. He was weak…and he just stewed in his hatred in his cell for days on hand.

It had been four weeks since he had been defeated at the Avatar's hand. Four weeks since Zuko had been crowned Firelord in his place. Four weeks since his Daughter was confined to a mental ward. Four weeks of endless depression.

"Pathetic."

Ozai groaned and lifted his head. Standing outside of his bars was a boy. He looked only a little older than the Avatar, with a thick mat of brown hair on his head. His features were all very pointed, and his eyes showing disappointment. "Absolutely pathetic."

Ozai stood up, his legs wobbling. "Do you know who you speak too, young one?"

"Yeah, I do. An ex-dictator who tried to wipe out a whole civilization," He said, his voice still condescending. "Tried and failed, lost the war, got utterly pwnzrd, how ever you want to put it."

The ex-Firelord grunted in anger. "Guards! Guards!"

The far door opened, and a tall man, dressed in red armor. His face wasn't visible underneath the helmet. "What is it now?"

"How di-" Ozai began, but stopped suddenly. The boy was gone.

"Go to sleep old man," The Guard grumbled, exiting the cell and shutting the door. "I think he's losing it…" He heard from the other side of the wall.

"Interestingly, he's almost right," The boy was back. "Only it's that you have lost it not in the process of losing it."

"What do you want?" Ozai grumbled.

"Well, judging from how the Avatar has recently done something very stupid in letting you live, as well as passing a no-death-penalties rule, I am here for one reason," He said, glaring. "I'm here to give you some regular, unsolicited advice."

"What?" Ozai's eyebrow rose. "What sort of advice would I want from you?"

"Oh, tons. But first, a question; why did your invasion plan fail?"

"Why would I tell you? You no doubt already heard; The Avatar confronted us, channeled the power of his previous incarnations to defeat my armies," Ozai glared at his guest with all his venom.

"Oh, I didn't just hear about it: I saw it happen. You got your butt beat off then sowed back on only to be beaten off again," He answered, examining his fingernails for about half a second. "But no, that's not why you lost. You lost because you and your Generals, those so called experts of war, were idiots."

"Excuse me?" Ozai's voice was getting louder.

"Don't shout, lest the Guards come in and gag you for the night. Anyway, you lost because you were idiots. You showed no intelligence or common sense, you acted in a manner that would befit one of the Avatar's friends. Because let's face it, you should've known that the Avatar completely outclasses you guys in the strength department."

"Your point being?"

"My point is your thinking is warped along the lines of 'I have infinite reserves' and your only plan for winning your war was to throw more and more men at it until it crumbled." The boy then sat down cross-legged. "Naturally, you lost. Because the enemy generals knew all about the phrase 'moderation'. But that pales in comparison to your biggest flaw: You assumed your element was superior. Your forces regularly caught off guard by the strengths of other elements because they thought, because their elements were stronger, that it would be a piece of cake."

"We had the other nations on the run for the past one hundred years," Ozai explained. "We only lost when the Avatar returned."

"Well, the other nations didn't have much of a military unit until recently, hence the winning streak," The boy rejoined. "Actually, if you think about it, Fire is the weakest element there is."

At this statement, Ozai stopped for a second…then laughed. This was an outrageous statement. This was accompanied by the opening of his cell door. "What's going on here?"

He had learned from his previous attempt, and the boy had vanished again, so Ozai merely answered "Just remembering some things…"

The door closed, and Ozai rounded upon his visitor. "You, boy are nothing but a fool."

"Oh am I?" He chuckled. "Airbenders, not the Avatar mind you, but regular Airbenders; they use the air to help them move, jump, even fly. Were they so inclined they could be the perfect assassins; sneaking past even the best fortifications and silently delivering death to their targets. In a battle they could've ripped apart formations with mini tornadoes, killed the enemies by denying the air to their lungs. Waterbenders can manipulate the water to drown the enemy, blast them apart and manipulate a group of troops upside down. Heck, they can even manipulate the blood in your veins, moving and forcing troops to attack each other. Amazing, no? Earthbenders can manipulate the earth…erect solid stone walls out of nowhere, creating various objects to kill the enemy. Including blades, spikes, and spears. The Avatar's Earthbending instructor can bend metal, which would be really useful in getting out of jail, don't you agree?""

Ozai said nothing, but had resorted to a death glare.

"Their intelligence matches the potential of their bending, which is more than can be said for you and the Fire Nation in general," The boy took a breath.

"Oh and how is that?" Ozai asked venomously.

"Most people that I've seen only have one use for Fire Bending: Throw a blast of Fire in a general direction and watch whatever's in the way get burned. Some, like yourself, your daughter, your brother and your son recently have the ability to create lightning. You use the same general principle, though: Toss it in a direction and zap whatever's in the way. While it's very good at accomplishing this, it shows lack of intelligence and creativity, but it's also a direct result of weakness."

"I'm not weak," Ozai growled, glaring angrily.

He took no notice though. "Yes you are. In enforcing the notion that Fire is immensely superior into everyone's psychology, yourself included, you opened yourself to the element of surprise when the capabilities of the other elements were beyond anything you have ever thought. Ergo, because Firebenders are weak, Fire is weak."

"That's what Fire is; rampaging destruction. A force of righteous anger and retribution-"

"No, no, no. See, if you lost the war, got captured, etcetera, etcetera, while holding that belief, especially by another Firebender who holds different beliefs then obviously that belief is wrong and you should subscribe to a different one."

"You're suggesting that I become some peace-loving weakling?" Ozai half-chuckled.

"Heck no. Would I be here if that were the case? Convincing you to become that is impossible. No, I'm here to help set you on your say to accomplish your goals. So I have another question for you; did you ever experiment with your bending? Seeing exactly how far you could take your art? Or did you simply stick to the same regimen over and over again? Since I'm rebuking you for being uncreative, I'll guess the latter."

_Rebuking me_? Ozai thought with a risen eyebrow. _Who does he think he is?_

"Sozin was an expert at manipulating heat. There was a bounty hunter who used the same basic principle to create large explosions with amazing precision. I have a personal idea on which a Firebender can create smoke, though I don't know how well that would go over. Do you know how these would come in handy? If you manipulate heat, you could use it passively against opponents, making them tire faster, causing their throats to run dry due to the intense heat. Or you could take a more active approach like the bounty hunter and focus it, and turn it into a deadly explosive weapon. Granted, the Hunter had an over developed third eye that let him do this but I'm sure the technique can be adapted to regular use. Smoke would be useful. A smoke screen can cloak an escape attempt, or an ambush. It can choke an enemy to death. Can't you see the possibilities?"

Ozai was now paying a little more attention to him. "Yes, but all if that is rendered moot by one fact: The Avatar removed my bending."

"I know, I was there remember?" The boy angled his head. "This brings me to my next point; there are more than four elements. Technically, there are seven. The four the nations bend, the one that no one bends, the one that everyone used to bend and the one everyone uses with varying degrees of success regardless of nationality and specialty. The one that everyone used to bend, Spirit Bending. That's the one that The Avatar used to lock away your bending."

Ozai was silent for a few minutes. "Does this mean I can restore my bending?"

"Yes. That's exactly what that means," The boy answered, smiling. "Finally, we're getting somewhere! But unless the Avatar suddenly pops in and decided to grant you spirit bending lessons, you're still stuck here. This brings me to the one that everyone uses: The mind."

"The Mind?"

"Yes, the mind. The thing which process's information and helps you reach conclusion. The reason we sit in dwellings and reap the benefits of civilization while animals sit outside nibbling on bones and bananas." The boy asserted. "It's your ticket out of here if you use it right."

"You have a plan to get out of here?" Ozai sounded hopeful now.

"Yeah, but I'm not going to tell you. Telling you wouldn't help you at all, it would stunt your mental growth," The boy answered. "Your mind is also being hindered by your perception of reality."

"What do you mean?" Ozai asked.

"You believe it is your divine right to rule, and that everyone should kneel before you and treat you as a god." The boy answered. "That's not true. It's never been true. The only person to ever be actually entitled to power in the history of forever is the Avatar. Everyone else has to earn it." The boy leaned toward Ozai's face. "Royalty is just a title bestowed upon by the empty masses so they don't have to do their thinking. And unless they use it wisely to win over the empty headed masses, they'll lose it very quickly."

"Because it was given to my ancestor by the people, it was given to me," Ozai replied. "And you're wrong. I also believe that skill and accomplishment bring worth to a person."

The boy smiled. "Ah, well then. Score for you. That's true, but it's also a detrimental view-point. To anyone sensible, the only worth someone has is how useful they are to you."

"Doesn't skill and accomplishment automatically mean incredibly useful?" Ozai asked.

"Well no, your generals were all highly skilled Firebenders by your judgment and look what happened," He answered. "But the guards to your cell would be very useful because they're the ones with the jail keys."

"They'll never help me. Those traitors turned their backs on me the moment the Avatar showed up," Ozai spat with a glare.

"On the contrary, they'll help you if they love you," The boy answered.

"Come again?" Ozai asked. _Love me? Are you suggesting that I pretend to be a bisexual on the off chance that the guards are gay?_

"If your men love and admire you, they will die for you. If your men love and admire you, you will have their unending loyalty cemented in something stronger than a mere title. Of course by love, I mean brotherly affection." The boy had caught the look in Ozai's eye and made that clarification.

"Ah, okay," Ozai answered. _Whew!_

"Your Daughter sought to earn the soldiers respect, but she also ended up with their fear," The boy answered. "Look what happened; her best friends betrayed her because they were sick of her scaring them into submission. They decided they had nothing left to lose, a common occurrence with that style of rule. Whilst the Avatar's companions followed him through thick and thin, no matter how bad things looked at the time. That should tell you something. Leaders inspire their followers to greater heights, Tyrants terrify everyone into submission."

"So…you're saying that I shouldn't scare everyone into following me?" Ozai said.

"Exactly. For instance, if you try to scare the guards into setting you free, not only will you not do that, but they'll be happier that you're behind bars. If you scare troops into doing a maneuver, they'll be unmotivated to do so: They won't do as good a job as if they were doing it for someone they admire…because if you use their admiration to get them to do things, they actually _want_ to do what you want them to do. I'm not saying you shouldn't assert your leadership. Far from it, I'm just saying you should do it differently than what you have been. Inspire them. But don't do so emptily…if they believe you're nothing but hot air, they'll turn on you for their own ambition."

"Well, that goes without saying," Ozai stated. "But if I just go up to Zuko and challenge him for the throne, the Avatar will just knock me down again and send me back here."

"This brings us to the other way how your perception is preventing you from seeing things in a logical light. Your general avoidance of deception," The boy stated.

"Again, I find myself asking what you mean," Ozai said.

"You see, you, yourself, are not very deceptive. Sure, you had people launch a propaganda campaign, but that was other people. Meanwhile; your daughter, who is/was a _very_ deceptive person took over Ba Sing Sei in less than a week. Even after a hundred day siege, your brother was unable to conquer that blasted city. It's the first problem I stated: Your mentality was that you had reserves, so you could do anything. My suggestion? Go Azula's route with deception: Lie, Backstab, cheat." The boy answered, standing up. "A global crime syndicate that stages a world-wide coup has a much better chance at global dominion in this day and age rather than a frontal army."

"And you're saying that secrecy is my greatest chance at gaining what it rightfully mine?" Ozai asked.

"Remember what I said about power? You're owed nothing. But in essentials, yes that's exactly what I'm saying. Secret, Safe, Secure. If the enemy army is larger, send in saboteurs and assassin's to sabotage enemy plans and eliminate the enemy leaders, using your discretion on which to do. A city giving you trouble? Take command of the entire government with spies. Use poisons, hidden blades, sleight of hand, and many other cheap tricks. Cheap tricks are cheap because they work." The boy stated. "With the Avatar around, an army has about as much chance to take over the world as an idiot armed with a coconut. Incidentally, have you ever heard of the Order of the White Lotus?"

"No, I haven't," Ozai answered.

"Might want to look into them when you get out. Do you have a plan?" The boy asked.

Ozai took a moment before answering. He considered all that he had been told today, from earning admiration to the secrets of bending. "Yes, I believe I do."

"Good. Just remember, Admirable Leadership, Creativity and Secrecy. They're the keys with winning in this game we call war…and contrary to what other people believe, it hasn't ended yet."

Ozai smiled. "You're speaking in my language now."

"Also, one last thing. Your brother learned how to redirect lightning by observing how Waterbenders redirect water. What does that mean for you?"

"That I shouldn't underestimate the enemy?"

"Close. I'm saying you should always be learning. Always. No matter where you turn, no matter where you go, there is something to be learned. Its how I got here to see you." The boy said. Then he vanished. He was gone, and Ozai was alone in his cell again.

_Leadership, Creativity, Secrecy_, Ozai thought, lying down on his cot again. He closed his eyes, and for the first time in four weeks he felt happy. _Leadership, Creativity, Secrecy_.

_Authors Notes: This came out because while watching an Avatar AMV, they were having a discussion on the Lion Turtle. I personally hate the lion turtle because it gave Aang an easy way out, allowed him to avoid doing what needs to be done. When I suggested that Ozai could get out and use his mind to get revenge, another person came along and said no amount of brain power could compete with the Avatar's god-like powers._

_This is the result. Leadership, Creativity, Secrecy. While this is a one shot because I have enough stories on my belt as it is, I hope I give several authors the idea to continue on this idea, or to pursue along similar story-lines. The OC didn't make everything a complete breeze for Ozai, such as keeping the Order of the White Lotus a secret to be found out, but it gave him a bunch of ideas._

_I personally want critique of Ozai's character in this, because I had him remain mostly silent through the majority of this. (Granted, he knew that if he shouted the guards would've come and knocked him out). I think I failed miserably at that point._

_Anyhow, Read, Review and if you're going to write something like I'm suggesting you do, tell me! I wanna read that!_


End file.
